Published on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
in the Orlando Sentinel

Cops at track target phony handicapped

DAYTONA BEACH -- Some people will do anything to get a sweet parking spot at Daytona International Speedway for the big race, even impersonate the dead.

They will lie and use someone else's handicapped placard -- risking jail and a $1,000 fine -- to snag a spot close to the track.

Anything to avoid paying up to $55 for a space at a nearby business or parking in a remote lot and waiting for shuttle buses.

State troopers are not amused, so during Speedweeks they're checking every handicapped placard hung from rearview mirrors and stickers on license plates to make sure the rightful owner is in the vehicle.

Troopers caught a handful of scofflaws before Saturday's Budweiser Shootout race. They expect to find more when racing resumes at the speedway later this week.

"Those handicap spots are for people who truly can't walk," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kim Miller said. "There are enough shuttle services out there."

Miller said the scrutiny is needed because some people "are just too lazy."

Parking for the Daytona 500, which attracts more than 200,000 race fans, is far worse than at most major sporting events because it draws far more spectators.

And the bulk of the parking -- two free lots provided by the speedway -- is up to two miles away.

Otherwise, patrons battle it out for paid lots along International Speedway Boulevard, where the price is as low as $10 or as high as $55, Daytona Beach police Sgt. Lando Blanchette said.

That's why Todd Fortin of Jacksonville tried to get into a lot near the main grandstands for the Budweiser Shootout. He was the first to get caught Saturday but repeatedly insisted the blue placard belonged to his employer, Florida Community College at Jacksonville.

"What you're doing is against the law, so answer me straight," Trooper Mitch Henderson warned him.

Fortin later admitted -- while Henderson filled out the form charging him with a misdemeanor -- that he borrowed the tag from a friend so he could park in the handicapped lot.

"It's closer for me to get over to will call to get my ticket," Fortin said. Even though he does not have his own disabled permit, Fortin said it's painful for him to walk because he had a severe leg break years ago.

But he was OK with the citation.

"I got caught, so it's fair," Fortin said.

The speedway is required to have about 600 spots set aside for disabled permits, but the track has "several times what's legally required," said Dean Kurtz, chief guest-services officer for the International Speedway Corp.

"We make sure we have way more because we're seeing how many credentials are being issued by the state," Kurtz said.

But before law enforcement began cracking down on cheaters in 2004, the handicapped lots would fill early in the day, and the truly disabled couldn't find a spot, Kurtz said.

Today, race fans get plenty of warning that scamming is not tolerated.

Ticket-holders get an information packet that lays out the rules. And a separate notice is mailed in case they miss that. Also, signs on International Speedway Boulevard warn that troopers are enforcing the law.

"It wasn't like it was a shock that you had to abide by the law," Kurtz said.

Troopers usually give a motorist a chance to 'fess up about the illegitimate tag. If they come clean right away, they often receive mercy.

But many are persistent in their lies, troopers say.

"I think people think we really can't check," Miller said, even though Florida's handicapped placards include the drivers-license number for the rightful owner. "People will come up with every type of story."

One year, a woman handed over a placard, saying it was hers. But when Miller ran the out-of-state tag, she found it belonged to her dead husband.

When Miller told the driver she knew the tag belonged to a man, the woman said it was her husband's, who she said was already inside the track.

"She acts like she's making a phone call. This guy is dead," Miller said. "I let her go through a few minutes of humiliation of calling heaven, I guess."

Trooper Tim Wood, who has snagged the most violators during the years, said he has busted probably a half-dozen people using dead relatives' placards.

"They just try to think we're going to be stupid," he said.

On Saturday, he pulled over an Edgewater woman trying to pass off her father's tag as her own. He gave her three chances to say it didn't belong to her. When she didn't, Wood wrote her a citation.

"Are you aware it's a second-degree misdemeanor to use someone else's placard?" Wood asked her through her car window. "This could take you to jail, but I'm going to release you with a court date. That means you're going to have to come back to a judge and explain why you're using your dad's placard."

Violators lose the placard and usually end up with a $1,000 fine, Wood said. The tag is returned to its rightful owner after it is confiscated as evidence in the case.

"All for a parking spot," Miller said.

The motorists who were honest saw better outcomes. One man handed over his placard and immediately told Trooper Sonja Chapman it belonged to his wife, who wasn't in the car. She told him he couldn't use it and directed him to a different parking lot, without issuing a ticket.

"If you're honest, that's fine," Chapman said. "If you're lying to me, and I know you're lying, that's a different story."

Troopers caught seven violators Saturday and will continue the parking patrol for this week's races, including the Daytona 500.

The first year, more than 50 people received citations. Last year, it was down to fewer than two dozen.

"They're getting the word," Miller said. "We're telling people it's not worth it."